DECADE DISCOVERY
Antiques Roadshow guest breaks down in tears as she learns true value of painting ‘with hole in it’
A GUEST on Antiques Roadshow broke down in tears as she learned the true value of her painting.
The contributor appeared on the PBS version of the show in the United States after she hung her artwork on her wall for 40 years.
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Before coming on the programme, she watched previous episodes of Antiques Roadshow which featured a similar piece.
She wanted to know if her heirloom could be the real deal as she explained: "I was watching Antiques Roadshow and in the feedback booth, a gentleman stated that he found out his Edouard Cortez was a fake and a light bulb went off.
"I ran downstairs and sure enough, this painting that had been hanging on our wall for 40 years said Edouard Cortez."
She explained she learned about the artist of the portrait online after her grandparents were both artists.
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"I just found his bio on the internet and he was best known for his Parisian street scenes. He was born in 1882 and died in 1969," she continued.
The was one tell-tale sign for authenticating the work of Cortez, and that was in the form of a pin hole, as the host of praised his guest.
The expert said: "He would take a little pin and he would stick it in the canvas and he would do that to establish the vanishing point, to determine the perspective in the painting and the drawing,"
She was dumbfounded as the painting was inspected as she exclaimed: "I thought it was a flaw!"
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However it was the hole that made the vendor think that the artwork was indeed genuine.
He said: "If you look at the lines, they all converge and come to this point.
"Now that, of course, is not conclusive but there's a gallery in New York and there's another gentleman who will authenticate this works.
"But I think there's no question that this work is in fact by Edouard Cortez. For an 18 by 22-inch canvas at auction, that should be worth $30,000 to $50,000."
The guest appeared excited as she burst into tears as the expert interjected: "I hope those are tears of joy by the way."
She replied: "They are tears of joy."
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